on the way to dinner

You never know what you'll see...

slough creek evening hike

Last night, after work, we loaded up the car with water and fly rods, picked up friends, and hit the trail at Slough Creek.  It's been two years since I've hiked Slough; the last time Sarah and I hiked it we were surprised by a very large black bear that was munching grass 5 foot off the trail.

This past week it's been hot, well, hot for here.  No humidity, but 90 degrees in an alpine desert is still hot. Luckily last night a breeze kicked in as we set off on a 2 mile hike to the first meadow, where the boys fished and we took in the evening.

 

 

Slough Creek patrol cabins.

On the way back to the car we were looking at the wildflowers along the trail when we suddenly spotted two faces--one big, one small--peering at us in the tall grass.  We quickly backed up and detoured around them.

Luckily they were more interested in their evening feeding and took their time making their way to a ridge line.  The cub (one of this year's cubs) enjoyed running after mom and posing on rocks for us.

tetons escape

Over Labor Day, we left Yellowstone and headed south to the Tetons. We snagged a campsite at Signal Mountain,


and then headed to the Leigh Lake TH.


While Steve fished String Lake,


I cooled my feet in the clear water.


We woke up early the next morning and watched the sun rise over the mountains at Owbow Bend.


After a big breakfast, we headed to the Lupine Meadows trail head. Near the TH was a cow moose, not impressed by the noisy sandhill cranes nearby interrupting her breakfast.


There were more cars at TH parking lot than I've ever seen before starting hike. We started the climb up to Amphitheater and Surprise, two lakes, to quote Steve, "without fish."



The trail gains 3,000 feet in elevation over 4 miles, and we had great views of the valley below us as we climbed. There was a lot of haze and smoke hanging over the valley due to a fire burning nearby.


As we wound our way up the trail we discovered that we weren't alone--a black bear decided to jump on the trail in front of us, going on its way for several minutes before finally deciding to cede the trail to us and head off into the trees.


We finally made it to the first lake,



and, if possible, the second lake was even more beautiful.



Though as Steve pointed out again, neither lake had any fish in them.

Coming down, the heat of the day burned the smoke and haze off, and we had clear views of the lakes below.


10.5 miles later we were back at the car, headed home.

sepulcher mountain

Last weekend, we hiked to the top of Sepulcher Mountain. Sepulcher looms above Mammoth, and although we've lived in Mammoth for over a year now we'd yet to climb it.

We hiked with friends and decided to do the hike as a shuttle loop, starting at Glen Creek TH and ending at Liberty Cap/Beaver Ponds TH. As we began the hike, we noticed four mule deer bucks on a ridge in front of us. We watched them, they watched us, and then they decided to make a run for the trail before we approached any closer.



There were tons of beautiful wildflowers on display as we made our ascent,


and we also had a great view of Electric Peak as we climbed.


View from the top, with Gardiner in the background.


Awesome views of Electric from the summit.


The bugs were TERRIBLE--that is a bug-off bandana, not a fashion choice.



More wildflowers as we made our descent,


and a hungry marmot.


About 1 mile from the TH Steve paused at a junction to ask which way he was supposed to go. Somehow I was the only one who noticed the backside of a black bear, not far from where Steve was standing. Luckily the bear was more interested in scratching himself against a tree than he was in us.



Total trip: 11 miles.

babies

carr family visit, part 1 (wildlife)